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MoPa
My companion
and I drive south on the 405 towards the Mexican border.
We cruise past long lovely vistas of the gleaming sun
setting on a picture postcard ocean. It’s a beautiful drive
with one jarring distraction. Disquieting signs in the center median show
a “family” in silhouette, an obvious father, mother and child,
hand in hand with the child’s feet lifted off the ground.
They are all running. It’s a sign meant to warn drivers
of the possibility of illegal Mexican immigrants stealing up
from the ocean and running across the highway. It is impossible
to imagine how anyone could make it alive across the eight lanes
of speeding traffic to the mountains on the other side, but
apparently people risk it often enough for the powers that be
to warn drivers to be prepared. The
signs are strangely affecting.
They portray a family and we are warned not to run them
over. We’re headed towards San Diego to see the new
renovations and expansions that have quadrupled the size of
the Museum of Photographic Arts in that city. It’s not easy
to find parking but finally victorious, we head off in the splendid
sunshine to meet Sandy Wagner, Public Relations Director who
gives us a tour of the new facilities. It’s a beautiful space
located in Balboa Park in an arcade of imitation-Spanish Baroque
buildings of sister museums, a botanical garden and a theatrical
complex. As a small museum, MoPA has gained wide recognition
for the quality of its exported exhibitions as well as amassing
an impressive collection of fine photographs. Director Arthur
Ollman, a former Bay Area photographer and curator, has overseen
the renovation and expansion of the museum, which now includes
additional galleries, classrooms, print-viewing rooms and a
25,000-volume library, as well as a state of the art theater
for video and film. The
exhibition schedule offers approximately six shows a year, and
displays work from the entire history of the medium, including
everything from daguerreotypes and albumen prints of the 19th
century to master works from many of the best photographers
working today. If you’re going south, MoPA is a stop well worth
your time, but make sure you watch the road.
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